Installing the Admin SDK

This article shows you how to install the Identity Platform Admin SDK. The Admin SDK lets you manage Identity Platform from a server environment, and perform administrator actions such as migrating users, setting custom claims, and configuring identity providers.

Before you begin

To use the Admin SDK, you need a server app running one of the following:

Language Minimum framework version
Node.js Node.js 8.13.0+
Java Java 7+ (Java 8+ recommended)
Python Python 2.7+ or 3.4+ (3.4+ recommended)
Go Go 1.9+
.NET .NET Framework 4.5+ or .NET Core 1.5+

Additionally, you'll need a service account and key for your project:

Cloud Console

  1. In the Cloud Console, go to the Create service account key page.

    Go to the Create Service Account Key page
  2. From the Service account list, select New service account.
  3. In the Service account name field, enter a name.

  4. From the Role list, select Project > Owner.

    Note: The Role field authorizes your service account to access resources. You can view and change this field later by using the Cloud Console. If you are developing a production app, specify more granular permissions than Project > Owner. For more information, see granting roles to service accounts.
  5. Click Create. A JSON file that contains your key downloads to your computer.

Command line

You can run the following commands using the Cloud SDK on your local machine, or in Cloud Shell.

  1. Create the service account. Replace [NAME] with a name for the service account. 

    gcloud iam service-accounts create [NAME]

  2. Grant permissions to the service account. Replace [PROJECT_ID] with your project ID. 

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding [PROJECT_ID] --member "serviceAccount:[NAME]@[PROJECT_ID].iam.gserviceaccount.com" --role "roles/owner"
    Note: The Role field authorizes your service account to access resources. You can view and change this field later by using Cloud Console. If you are developing a production app, specify more granular permissions than Project > Owner. For more information, see granting roles to service accounts.

  3. Generate the key file. Replace [FILE_NAME] with a name for the key file. 

    gcloud iam service-accounts keys create [FILE_NAME].json --iam-account [NAME]@[PROJECT_ID].iam.gserviceaccount.com

Provide authentication credentials to your application code by setting the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS. Replace [PATH] with the file path of the JSON file that contains your service account key, and [FILE_NAME] with the filename. This variable only applies to your current shell session, so if you open a new session, set the variable again.

Linux or macOS

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="[PATH]"

For example:

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/home/user/Downloads/[FILE_NAME].json"

Windows

With PowerShell:

$env:GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="[PATH]"

For example:

$env:GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="C:\Users\username\Downloads\[FILE_NAME].json"

With command prompt:

set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=[PATH]

Installing the SDK

Node.js

The Node.js Admin SDK is available on npm. If you don't already have a package.json file, create one using npm init. Next, install the npm package and save it to your package.json:

npm install firebase-admin --save

To use the module in your app, require it from any JavaScript file:

var admin = require('firebase-admin');

If you are using ES2015, you can import the module instead:

import * as admin from 'firebase-admin';

Java

The Java Admin SDK is published to the Maven central repository. To install the library, declare it as a dependency in your build.gradle file:

dependencies {
  implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-admin:6.11.0'
}

If you use Maven to build your app, you can add the following dependency to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.google.firebase</groupId>
  <artifactId>firebase-admin</artifactId>
  <version>6.11.0</version>
</dependency>

Python

The Python Admin SDK is available using pip.

pip install --user firebase-admin

Go

Use the go get utility to install the Go Admin SDK:

go get firebase.google.com/go

C#

Install the .NET Admin SDK using the .NET package manager:

Install-Package FirebaseAdmin -Version 1.9.1

Alternatively, install it using the dotnet command-line utility:

dotnet add package FirebaseAdmin --version 1.9.1

Or, you can install it by adding the following package reference entry to your .csproj file:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="FirebaseAdmin" Version="1.9.1" />
</ItemGroup>

Initializing the SDK using default credentials

Add the following code to your server app to initialize the Admin SDK using the default credentials:

Node.js

// Initialize the default app
var admin = require('firebase-admin');
var app = admin.initializeApp({
  credential: admin.credential.applicationDefault()
});

Java

FirebaseApp.initializeApp();
FirebaseAppSnippets.java

Python

default_app = firebase_admin.initialize_app()
index.py

Go

app, err := firebase.NewApp(context.Background(), nil)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("error initializing app: %v\n", err)
}
init.go

C#

FirebaseApp.Create();

FirebaseAppSnippets.cs

Initializing the SDK with a service account key file

You can also manually specify a service account key file:

Node.js

// Initialize the default app
var admin = require('firebase-admin');
var app = admin.initializeApp({
  credential: admin.credential.cert('/path/to/serviceAccountKey.json')
});

Java

FileInputStream serviceAccount = new FileInputStream("path/to/serviceAccountKey.json");

FirebaseOptions options = new FirebaseOptions.Builder()
    .setCredentials(GoogleCredentials.fromStream(serviceAccount))
    .setDatabaseUrl("https://<DATABASE_NAME>.firebaseio.com/")
    .build();

FirebaseApp.initializeApp(options);
FirebaseAppSnippets.java

Python

import firebase_admin
from firebase_admin import credentials
from firebase_admin import exceptions

cred = credentials.Certificate('path/to/serviceAccountKey.json')
default_app = firebase_admin.initialize_app(cred)
index.py

Go

opt := option.WithCredentialsFile("path/to/serviceAccountKey.json")
app, err := firebase.NewApp(context.Background(), nil, opt)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("error initializing app: %v\n", err)
}
init.go

C#

FirebaseApp.Create(new AppOptions()
{
    Credential = GoogleCredential.FromFile("path/to/serviceAccountKey.json"),
});

FirebaseAppSnippets.cs

Initializing multiple apps

Typically, you'll only want to initialize a single, default app. However, you can also create multiple app instances, each with its own configuration options and authentication state.

Node.js

// Initialize the default app
admin.initializeApp(defaultAppConfig);

// Initialize another app with a different config
var otherApp = admin.initializeApp(otherAppConfig, 'other');

console.log(admin.app().name);  // '[DEFAULT]'
console.log(otherApp.name);     // 'other'

// Use the shorthand notation to retrieve the default app's services
var defaultAuth = admin.auth();

Java

// Initialize the default app
FirebaseApp defaultApp = FirebaseApp.initializeApp(defaultOptions);

// Initialize another app with a different config
FirebaseApp otherApp = FirebaseApp.initializeApp(otherAppConfig, "other");

System.out.println(defaultApp.getName());  // "[DEFAULT]"
System.out.println(otherApp.getName());    // "other"

// Use the shorthand notation to retrieve the default app's services
FirebaseAuth defaultAuth = FirebaseAuth.getInstance();
FirebaseDatabase defaultDatabase = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance();

// Use the otherApp variable to retrieve the other app's services
FirebaseAuth otherAuth = FirebaseAuth.getInstance(otherApp);
FirebaseDatabase otherDatabase = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance(otherApp);
FirebaseAppSnippets.java

Python

# Initialize the default app
default_app = firebase_admin.initialize_app(cred)

#  Initialize another app with a different config
other_app = firebase_admin.initialize_app(cred, name='other')

print(default_app.name)    # "[DEFAULT]"
print(other_app.name)      # "other"

# Retrieve default services via the auth package...
# auth.create_custom_token(...)

# Use the `app` argument to retrieve the other app's services
# auth.create_custom_token(..., app=other_app)
index.py

Go

// Initialize the default app
defaultApp, err := firebase.NewApp(context.Background(), nil)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("error initializing app: %v\n", err)
}

// Initialize another app with a different config
opt := option.WithCredentialsFile("service-account-other.json")
otherApp, err := firebase.NewApp(context.Background(), nil, opt)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("error initializing app: %v\n", err)
}

// Access Auth service from default app
defaultClient, err := defaultApp.Auth(context.Background())
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("error getting Auth client: %v\n", err)
}

// Access auth service from other app
otherClient, err := otherApp.Auth(context.Background())
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("error getting Auth client: %v\n", err)
}
init.go

C#

// Initialize the default app
var defaultApp = FirebaseApp.Create(defaultOptions);

// Initialize another app with a different config
var otherApp = FirebaseApp.Create(otherAppConfig, "other");

Console.WriteLine(defaultApp.Name); // "[DEFAULT]"
Console.WriteLine(otherApp.Name); // "other"

// Use the shorthand notation to retrieve the default app's services
var defaultAuth = FirebaseAuth.DefaultInstance;

// Use the otherApp variable to retrieve the other app's services
var otherAuth = FirebaseAuth.GetAuth(otherApp);

FirebaseAppSnippets.cs

Setting scopes

If you're using a Compute Engine VM with Google Application Default Credentials for authentication, you''ll need to set the right access scopes. Identity Platform requires the userinfo.email and cloud-platform access scopes.

To check your existing access scopes, run the following:

gcloud compute instances describe [INSTANCE-NAME] --format json

The command will return information about the service account. For example:

"serviceAccounts": [
 {
  "email": "example.gserviceaccount.com",
  "scopes": [
   "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform",
   "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email"
   ]
  }
]

To update access scopes, stop the VM, then run the following:


gcloud compute instances set-service-account [INSTANCE-NAME] \
  --service-account "your.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --scopes ""https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email"

What's next